Springfield developers buy Cape's Marquette

The Marquette Tower and Marquette Centre in downtown Cape Girardeau has changed hands again.

On March 20, a Springfield, Mo.-based development company bought the two buildings and adjoining parking lot for "between $3 million and $4 million," said Trevor Gregg of G&S Holdings LLC.

According to the warranty deed filed with Cape Girardeau County on March 30, G&S borrowed $3,272,500 from Great Southern Bank for the mortgage.

Gregg met with city officials, John Mehner, chief executive officer of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, and Marla Mills, executive director of Old Town Cape, on Thursday afternoon.

The meeting followed a tour Gregg took with Cape Girardeau banker Danny Essner.

The Marquette Tower's 66,117 square feet at 338 Broadway includes a first-floor restaurant and offices for eight state agencies. The 11,662-square-foot Marquette Centre, once Southeast Missouri State University's printing plant, is unoccupied.

Gregg, 33 said he was excited about the new venture. The Marquette properties are the farthest east in his company's holdings. He described the new purchase as "about in the middle" on a spectrum of holdings, which are concentrated around Springfield, Mo., Joplin, Mo., and Branson, Mo.

Cape Girardeau Mayor Jay Knudtson said settling ownership of the Marquette properties could be viewed as a hurdle or an opportunity. The purchase has a major effect on the city, he said, and shows other developers that "even in tough economic times, businesses are willing to make a commitment to downtown Cape Girardeau."

Acting city manager Ken Eftink said the Marquette purchase will work well with other development underway downtown. He said bids to expand downtown parking are about to be let; work has begun on the Fountain Street extension and continues on the River Park Trail.

Gregg met with Knudtson, Eftink, Mehner, Mills, Essner, a Capaha Bank vice president who also is chairman of the city's parks and recreation board, city attorney Eric Cunningham and Councilwoman Debra Tracy.

G&S Holdings is a partnership between Gregg's father, Richard, and Scott Schaefer, both developers.

The company began seriously looking at the Marquette properties in December, Trevor Gregg said, after being approached by officials from Springfield's largest financial institution, Great Southern Bank.

Great Southern Bank bought the buildings and parking lot April 2, 2008, offering the lone bid of $3.6 million during the foreclosure sale. The bank had been the main creditor for Marquette's owner at the time, businessman Vaughn Prost.

Prost bought the properties through his company, Prost Builders Inc., in 2002 for $350,000, saving it from the wrecking ball. The building had been vacant for more than 20 years at that point. From its opening in 1928 to 1971, the Marquette had been an upscale hotel.

Prost told the Southeast Missourian he'd invested an estimated $10 million in renovations at the two buildings, garnering state and federal tax credits for historic preservation and environmental remediation along the way.

He later blamed the building's insolvency on the lack of private and state government tenants.

Gregg expressed confidence that the Marquette Tower's 80 percent occupancy would continue or improve and that his company would find tenants for the Marquette Centre.

Last year's foreclosure occurred six months after Prost put the buildings on the market, asking $4.5 million for the Marquette Tower and $1.4 million for the Marquette Center.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

338 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO

1451 East Battlefield Rd. Springfield, MO

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO

221 N. Fountain St., Cape Girardeau, MO